[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 106 (Wednesday, July 15, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H8160-H8161]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     H.R. 3183: ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong 
support for H.R. 3183, the Energy and Water Development and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010.
  I applaud the subcommittee chairman and the ranking member for moving 
this important bill through the Appropriations Committee and to the 
House floor.
  This bill funds some of the most critical programs in south Florida, 
where I live, and my constituents are very much in tune with this 
particular bill.

[[Page H8161]]

I would like to spend a few moments today focusing on how this bill 
affects our area of south Florida.
  Since coming to Congress, I have been committed, along with my 
Democrat and Republican colleagues, to working to make sure with the 
Florida delegation and with Members throughout the country that they 
support Federal Government obligations to restore the incomparable 
River of Grass, which is known as the Everglades.
  I was very pleased that President Obama, in his budget request, met 
his promise and followed up on that to make Everglades restoration a 
priority. Although the $210 million in this bill doesn't quite match 
the President's request, the fact remains that this bill makes 
Everglades restoration its biggest construction project.
  I commend the chairman and ranking member for keeping Everglades 
restoration as a national priority. It is historical.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3183's commitment to Florida's priorities are also 
something to be mentioned. The beaches of south Florida are some of the 
most beautiful in the Nation, but our coasts are facing a real crisis. 
They have become seriously eroded, endangering both the personal 
property and the personal safety of residents and guests. My district 
in south Florida encompasses over 75 miles of beautiful coastline on 
the Atlantic, and it has numerous shore protection projects, but many 
are mired in the Army Corps of Engineers' permitting process.
  There are many reasons why the permitting process is not as efficient 
as it could be, but one problem we can address right here is the 
understaffing at the Army Corps of Engineers. For example, Palm Beach 
County, which is one of the counties I represent in south Florida, was 
forced to pay out of its taxpayer dollars the salary of an additional 
Army Corps of Engineers staffer to deal with the county's many projects 
awaiting some Army Corps action. In essence, Palm Beach County became 
fed up with waiting year after year for the Corps to act on their 
permit applications, so they are now paying for the extra Army Corps 
employee to do his job.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a ridiculous situation that is unfair to the 
taxpayers of south Florida, who are paying their fair share here up in 
Washington. That is why I filed an amendment that was accepted as part 
of Chairman Pastor's manager's amendment. This language, combined with 
increases in the underlying bill, will add $11.8 million on top of last 
year's funding level to fund more staff and to support more personnel 
to help act on a more efficient basis with regard to these permits. 
This sizable investment will unclog the permitting pipeline that is 
hurting so many of our coastal communities. They deserve a timely 
decision so they can determine the best ways to protect their residents 
and the natural resources.
  Mr. Speaker, south Florida and the entire country need greater 
strategic investment in our Nation's priorities. This particular bill, 
H.R. 3183, will put us on a path towards energy independence in 
addition to a number of other bills we've already put on the table and 
have sent to the President. The only way we can reduce our dependence 
on foreign oil is to invest in a multitude of technologies and to make 
these technologies right here in the United States, creating the jobs 
right here. This bill invests in solar and wind energy in order to make 
our electricity cleaner. At the same time, it also invests in 
weatherization and in energy efficiency to bring down costs for 
consumers and businesses. The bill includes investments in clean coal 
technology and nuclear energy research so that we can unleash these 
innovations and create high-quality American jobs.
  The bill also makes critical investments in vehicle technology so 
that our gas tanks get more miles per gallon, which will save us money 
at the pump. Of course, using less gasoline means we will import less 
gasoline, and that is an essential national security item because, 
currently, we are importing 60 percent of our oil from unstable 
countries around the world that, in many cases, are financing terrorism 
and drug trafficking with our petrodollars. I believe that a transition 
to new energy sources will ensure that we do not continue to send 
billions of dollars to countries that are, at best, not our friends 
and, at worst, are our enemies. My strongest belief is that we should 
never again have to make a foreign policy decision based on where the 
next drop of oil is coming from.
  Lastly, H.R. 3183 builds on the recently passed American Clean Energy 
Security Act and Recovery Act, which has jump-started American 
investment in this new energy economy I've been talking about. I truly 
believe this is an historic moment and an extraordinary opportunity to 
create jobs in south Florida and throughout the Nation and to unleash a 
new generation of energy technology built right here in America.
  I am proud to support H.R. 3183, and I am looking forward to seeing 
the results on the ground in south Florida.

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